The Spanish prosecutor wants to demand more than eight years in prison for alleged tax evasion for the Colombian pop superstar Shakira. That comes from the indictment, which AFP was able to see on Friday. The public prosecutor also wants to demand a fine of 24 million euros.
Shakira denies the allegations. The court must now decide whether and when to start a process. The 45-year-old singer is suspected of having defrauded the Spanish tax authorities of 14.5 million euros.
The singers turned down a deal with prosecutors on Wednesday. Shakira says she is innocent and the allegations are a “total violation” of her rights. She is the victim of a “bitter persecution” that other citizens have experienced.
“The prosecution is determined to recover the money I made from my international tours and from (the TV show) ‘The Voice’ before I lived in Spain,” she writes. The competent authorities had resorted to “unfair means to exert pressure, as they do daily and unfairly to thousands of taxpayers for profit”.
However, the possibility of an agreement remains until the first court date.
Spanish prosecutors have accused Shakira of not paying income tax in Spain between 2012 and 2014. During this time, she lived in the country with top Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué, but had her tax residence in the Bahamas until 2015.
Shakira’s lawyers counter that her income comes mainly from international tours and that she has not lived in Spain for more than six months a year. You have also already paid a good 17 million euros to the Spanish tax authorities.
Shakira was also mentioned in the Panama Papers, which revealed in 2016 that numerous heads of state and government and well-known figures had been hiding money from the tax authorities in tax havens.